critic reviews
Good medium red. Musky, evolved bouquet of chocolate, spices and porcini. Supple, spicy and sweet but fully evolved, with the mushroom and chocolate qualities carrying through on the palate. In a fairly simple, slightly pinched style, and past its fruit stage. Bruno Clair described 2001 as a tough year for us, with a difficult flowering and a bad July. We didn't have problems with cleanliness of the fruit but there was a wide range of ripeness within the same bunches ever since the flowering. (Clair also showed me his Gevrey-Chambertin Cazetiers, and that wine was a bit funkier on the nose, with its acidity taking over the palate; it was in decline.)
Aromatically, the ruby-colored, medium-bodied 2001 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint-Jacques is a deep, structured wine. Lush and expansive, it slathers the palate with powerful black cherry fruit. This spicy, muscular offering reveals a firm, yet ripe character. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2010. Bruno Clair, one of the only vignerons to own vines from Savigny-Les-Beaune in the south to Marsannay in the north, said 2001 was a nice year for the Cote de Nuits but a difficult one in the Cote de Beaune, a true vigneron vintage where conscientious vineyard work was essential. Once the harvest began, it was a race against botrytis. Importer: Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL; tel. (205) 980-8802